According to the data issued on July 5 by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), in the January-May period this year China produced a total of 1.3 billion mt of coal, up by 220 million mt or 20.6 percent year on year.
In May this year, new coal supplies (domestic production plus net imports) in China increased by 13.5 percent year on year to 295 million mt. Meanwhile, in the first five months of the year, new coal supplies in China amounted to 1.37 billion, up 23.3 percent compared with the corresponding period of last year.
In May, China observed rapid growth in coal output in a context of strong domestic demand and firm prices. In the first five months of the year, coal imports retained their strength, being consistently above 10 million mt for each month. Exports, on the other hand, have not yet shown any recovery.
The surge in fixed asset investment growth in China, which has boosted the sustainable development of coal-consuming sectors such as steel, cement, electricity and chemical fertilizers, has provided the conditions for the steady growth of coal demand in the Chinese domestic market.
In May, China's domestic thermal power generation was 270,900 KW.h, up 21.6 percent year on year. In the same month, coal prices climbed up by 4.7 percent from April.